Time-announcing phonograph



Dec. 22, 1925.

I F. ISMAN TIME ANNOUNCING PHONOGR'APH Filed Dec. 10, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 R m M W ATTORNEY Dec. 22, 1925.

F. ISMAN TIME ANNOUNCING PHONOGRAPH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 10, 1924 INVE/l/TUR '72: W

I Br %mwml A770,? EV

Dec. 22 1925. 1,566,873

F. ISMAN TIME ANNOUNCING PHONOGRAPH Filed Dec. 10, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY fi ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

FELIX ISMAN, OF NEW YORK, 'N;

Y., nssrenon ronnwmn. DUFFY, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

TIME-ANNOUNCING rnonoenarn,

Application filed December 10, 1924. Serial No. 754,970.

T 0 all who mat may concern Be it known'that I, FELIX ISMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, inthe county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time' Announcing Pho nographs, of which the following is a specification, 7,

The present invention relates to improvements in time announcing phonographs adapted to be connected to a telephone system, whereby a subscribermay ascertain the time of the day or obtain other information contained on a phonograph record.

Heretofore, when it was desired to obtain the time of the day by means of a telephone, it was necessary to call the operator for this purpose. This practice is objectionable for the reason that the attention of the operator from the work of connecting subscribers was taken away, much of the operators time wasted, and besides often inaccurate information obtained. In some localities the operators are by the rules of the telephone company prevented from announcing the time of the day. I j

The main object of the present invention is to provide an automatic time announcing device which may be connected to the subscribers lines, thereby enabling the subscribers to ascertain the time of the day, the operator having no other work to perform but to plug in the device in the lines, or, if in an automatic system, the operator is not required at all.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character mentioned which is simple in construction, accurate, automatic, requires no attention and needs but little energy for its operation.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the .many possible embodiments V of the invention is illustrated in the. accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a phonographic time announcer embodying the princlples of the invention; Fig. 2 is a side ele vation thereof; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of thesame; Fig. 4; is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;'and Fig 5 is a side elevation of the reproducer of thedevice, on a larger scale. j

In the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the turn-table of a phonograph, the same being actuated in any suitable manner by a motor or' other suitable driving means, not shown. On this turn-table is mounted, in the usual manner, a disk record 11, having grooves 12, which, instead of being spiral grooves as in the ordinary constructions, are circular. Each of these grooves bears a sound impression, impressions in successive grooves representing intervals of time of one minute each. Thus one groove has impressed upon it the time twelve-one, the next twelve-two, etc. Above the table is mounted, preferably diametrically across the same, a screw-threaded spindle 13, the said.

spindle being eccentrically fastened to two journals 14, the latter being rotatably mounted in bearings 15. A sound reproducer 16 of any suitable construction co-o crates with the sound record 11, the said sound reproducer being shiftably mounted upon an arm 17 having a screw-threaded bore 18, the threads of which mesh with those of the spindle 13. The reproducer is carried by a sound arm 19.of any suitable construction. The threads on the spindle 13 are of a pitch corresponding to the distance between two adjoining grooves in the record 11, so that, when the spindle 13 is given one turn, the reproducer is moved from one of the grooves in the record disk 11 into the adjoining one. Inasmuch as the spindle is eccentrically mounted on the journals 14, it

is obvious that, when the said spindle is 100 given a complete turn, the reproducer is first lifted from the record, then shifted to the next groove in the series and, finally, lowered into the last-mentioned groove.

The spindle 13 is actuated by electro-mag- 105 netic means, in the present case a make-andbreak mechanism 20, including two electromagnets 21, with which cooperates a springpressed armature 22, the latter carrying a pawl 23. This pawl co-operates with a 110 ratchet wheel 24, concentrically mounted on one of 'the'journals 14. The spring 25 on the armature 22 carries a contact point 26, for co-operation with a. stationary contact point 27, the said electro-magnets and contact points being in an electric circuit 28, the arrangement being such that, when the armature is drawn away by the action of the spring from the electro-magnets, a contact is made, but, when the armature is attracted by the electro-magnets, the contact is opened. lVhen, therefore, the pawl actuates the ratchet wheel, the circuit is opened and the electro-magnets release the armature, permitting the spring 25 to again close the circuit moving the pawl away from the ratchet wheel. Once set in action, these movements are repeated while the switch of the electric circuit 28 is closed, thereby rotating the spindle 13 for the purpose above set forth.

The switch of the electric circuit is operated by a suitable clock mechanism 29, the said switch closing the circuit once each minute to move the reproducer 16 to the next groove 12 in the series. Theswitch comprises aweighted lever 30, pivoted at 31 to a support 32, and a stationary contact point 33-o11the said support. This switch lever is provided with a nose 34, adapted to be seated in the notch 35 of a bell-crank lever 36.,the latter being fulcrumed at '37 to the support 32., lVhen the said nose is seated in the said notch the switch lever 30 is kept away from the stationary contact point 33. For the purpose of unseating the nose 34 from the notch 35, the bell-crank lever 36 carries a spring 38, disposed in the path of an arm '39, the latter being fixed to the spindle 40 of the minute gear 41 of the clock mechanism 29.

To the ratchet gear 24 is fixed, preferably adjacent its periphery, a lug 42, and in the path of this lug is disposed an arm 43, the latter being fixed to the switch lever 30, for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

The operation of this device is as follows: Itis obvious that the motor of the phonograph must be kept continuously in operation, whereby the turntable is rotated in the ordinary manner. Assuming that the elements are in the positions shown in the severalfigures of the drawings, from which it appears that the switch of the motor circuit 28 is in its open position and the lug 42 has passed the arm 43 on the switch lever '30, the ratchet wheel moving in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2 of the drawin' s, it is obvious that, when the arm 39' in its rotation engages the spring 38, it causes the bell-crank lever 36 to swing on its fulcrum, whereby the nose 34 on the switch lever is unseated from the notch 35 in the said bell crank lever. The switch lever being weighted, it "is caused to make a contact with the stationarycontact point 33, thereby closing the motor circuit 28. As soon as this-occurs, the pawl 23 operates the ratchet gear 24, causing the same to make one turn, until the lug 42 swings the arm 43, whereby the switch lever 30 is disengaged from the stationary contact point 33 and the electric circuit 28 opened. As this switch lever is swung in the manner indicated, the nose 34 thereof is again seated in the notch 35, so that the electric circuit is interrupted until the lever 39 on the minute wheel 41 again actuates'the bell-crank lever 36. When the electric circuit 28 is closed, the phonographreprd ducer is lifted, shifted toward the next groove in the series and lowered into the same, thereby announcin the time. The time will be announced or approximately one minute, until the cycle of operation now described is repeated, at which time the reproducer is shifted to the next groove in the series, announcing the next minute .in the It is to be noted that the make-and-break mechanism operates very quickly, giving the spindle 13 a complete turn in a very few seconds. Actual experiments have shown that the spindle completes a full turn in about two to'three seconds.

It is to be noted that, while herein a specific switch and a specific electro-magnetic operating means has been described, any others may be used without departing from the invention. Also cylindrical sound records may be used instead of flat records.

Attention is called to the fact that, while herein the device has been described as announcing the minutes of the hour and a switch has been disclosed which co-operates with the minute wheel of the clock mechanism, any other desired arrangement may be provided.

It is obvious from the foregoing that, if the herein described device is to announce intervals of time of one minute each, the sound record must have seven hundred and twenty concentric grooves, there being seven hundred and twenty minutes in each twelve hou-r section of a day. Attention is, how ever, called to the fact that the said sound record may have more or less grooves, according to the requirements.

What I claim is 1'. In a phonographic time announcer having a sound record provided with a plurality of concentric circular grooves and the sound reproducer co-operating therewith having an arm provided with a screwthreaded bore; the combination of a screwthreaded spindle rotatably disposed above said sound record and having eccentric journals, the threads of said spindle meshing with those of said arm, and a clock controlled means for giving said spindle a complete turn at predetermined time intervals, whereby said sound reproducer is disengaged from a groove in said record, shifted into alignment with the succeeding groove and lowered into engagement therewith.

2. In a phonographic time announcer having a sound record provided with a plurality of concentric circular grooves and a sound reproducer co-operating therewith having an arm provided with a screwthreaded bore; the combination of a screwthreaded spindle rotatably disposed above said sound record and having eccentric journals, the threads of said spindle meshing with those of said arm, electro-magnetic means for actuating said spindle to disengage said reproducer from a groove, shift it into alignment with the succeeding groove and lower it into engagement therewith during each complete turn of said spindle, and a clock-controlled switch in the circuit of said electro-magnetic means for closing the circuit of the latter at predetermined time intervals.

3. In a phonographic time announcer having a sound record provided with a plurality of concentric circular grooves and a sound reproducer co-operating therewith having an arm provided with a screwthreaded bore; the combination of a screwthreaded spindle disposed above said sound record and having eccentric journals, the threads of said spindle meshing with those of said arm, a ratchet gear concentrically mounted on one of said journals, a pawl co-operating with said gear, electro-magnetic means for actuating said pawl, a switch in the circuit of said electro-magnetic means including a stationary contact point and a movable switch arm, means for holding said switch arm in its open position, time controlled means for disengaging said holding means at predetermined time intervals from said switch arm whereby the latter is adapted to close said circuit, and means on said ratchet gear c0- operating with said switch arm for opening said electric circuit after each complete revolution of'said spindle and thereby permitting said holding means to be engaged with said switch arm.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 7th day of November, A. D. 1924.

FELIX ISMAN. 

